


In For the Long Haul

by Lucy_Claire



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 23:40:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5311496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucy_Claire/pseuds/Lucy_Claire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After another grueling team-up to take down a meta, Oliver wonders if either of them could ever quit being superheroes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In For the Long Haul

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: 'Do you ever think we should stop this?' requested by Tumblr user neuroticheartbeat

Oliver ran across the ledge, arrow set in his bow, eyes straight ahead and ears with the meta chasing him, a Tasmanian Devil knock-off that spun like a top and flung bombs at incredible speeds.

Oliver shot his arrow at the building ahead of him and caught hold of hits rope just as Barry ran into view before.

“Flash, now!”

Barry ran up the building and just at he reached the edge Oliver took his hand and pulled him and straight at the Top right before he flung himself off the building and swung for the other one.

Barry launched into a high-speed punch, knocking the Top off the ledge and onto the roof and from there they engaged in a fight so fast Oliver could barely see it in the midst of the red blur and the green and yellow tornado. 

Oliver pressed on his earphone, all he heard was the sound of air. “Barry, you need to make him slow down long enough for me to hit him.”

“How would I do that?”

“Think of something, you always do!”

“Thanks, but this is not the time for an ego-boost.”

Oliver climbed up to the roof as fast he could, not giving in to the urge to turn around and check on Barry.

“Do I slow down now?” Barry’s garbled voice appeared in his ear, chopped up by static.

“Not yet.” Oliver swung himself up onto the roof and reached for a tranquilizer arrow. He readied it in his bow, aimed at the general area Barry and the Top were zooming around in and waited. “You figured out what to do?”

“I think so, give me a minute!”

“A minute in your or time or mine?”

“Just a minute, alright?”

“This is a time-sensitive issue, Barry, I need specifics right down to the last detail if I’m to make a clear shot.”

“God, you’re no good at this encouragement thing.”

“That’s usually your job. You know I’m not good with people, or their emotions or even my own.”

“You’re good with mine.”

Oliver felt a smile curling up the corners of his lips. “Hold the idiot still, Allen.”

“Yes, Green Arrow, sir.”

Barry slowed down long enough to confuse the top into a standstill then he caught his arms and held them behind his back. “NOW!”

Oliver let the arrow fly and it pierced his chest, knocking him out instantly.

Barry picked up the Top and took the stairs rather than traveling down the side of the building yet by the time Oliver reached the ground the Top was gone and Barry was bent over, his hood off, his hands on his knees as he heaved loudly.

“Did you seriously go all the way to STAR Labs and come back?”

“Had to lock up the crazy bastard, didn’t I?”

“You didn’t have to come back, you’re exhausted from keeping up with him.”

Barry waved off his concern, face flushed with exertion. “It’s nothing compared to trying to keep up with Zoom or the Reverse-Flash. Besides, I couldn’t leave you hanging here, now could I?”

“Yes, you could have.”

“Oliver, you came here to help me even though the situation wasn’t that bad, it’d be a pretty dick move if I just caught the guy with your help and didn’t even stick around to say thanks and see you off.”

Oliver leaned against the building wall and pushed off his hood, earning him a breathless smile from Barry. “We’ve done this so many times we have a routine outside the one we have with our own teams. Bit surreal, isn’t it?”

“I guess that’s what keeps things interesting.”

Sometimes what Barry considered interesting were what Oliver considered exhausting, and right now he really was exhausted but not any less entertained.

“Do you ever think we should stop this?” 

Visible panic broke Barry’s bright smile. “Teaming up or hanging out?”

“Neither, I mean doing this in general, the vigilante thing. It’s risky, it’s tiring, it’s nerve-wracking, why do we even do this?”

“Because it’s what gives our lives purpose, it’s what shaped our lives into what they are today, helped shape our friends and helped them grow as we did.” Barry looked at him with an almost puppy-dog like look of expectant worry. “Helped us come together, become friends.”

“We can keep on without all this.”

Barry shook his head. “No, we really can’t. It’s a part of us now, it’s something we owe to ourselves and the world, if we just stopped we could go mad.”

“You’re right, but even if either of us did quit, I know - for me at least - that you’ll always be a part of me.”

“You’ll always be a part of me too.”

Barry dropped his head on Oliver’s shoulder and Oliver wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close enough to kiss his forehead. 

“So we’re in this together for the long-haul?” asked Barry.

“In sickness and in health.”

“Hey, have the decency to ask for my hand before you say our wedding vows.”

“You don’t like me for my decency, you’re decent enough for the both of us.”

“I know, that’s what makes us such a great team.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://lucyclairedelune.tumblr.com)


End file.
